"White Plain Chariot?" the Red Maiden asked softly.
"White Plain Chariot," Wan Yu Yuedan nodded.
Tang Lizhen had ordered them to hold their positions, but in the end, they couldn't restrain themselves.
Yet, White Plain Chariot remained unmoved.
Just as they were discussing this, thick smoke suddenly billowed from the vents of the Drifting Eyebrow Garden, several black plumes shooting straight into the sky. Cheng Yunpao rushed over and said gravely, "A great fire rages within the House of Frivolity. If those inside haven't fled beforehand, they will likely perish alongside the Drifting Eyebrow Garden."
The Red Maiden slammed the table and stood up, her face burning with fury, yet she couldn't utter a single word.
Before them, war chariots rumbled as Chai Xijin beat the drums to command his troops. The woman in red on his chariot sang softly,
"By decree we leave the sovereign’s side, Together we march to quell the rebels’ tide. All sing the song of breaking the foe, Rejoicing in peace the people shall know..."
Thousands of soldiers moved in unison with the song, warhorses galloping, Tang blades unsheathed—astonishingly synchronized.
The drumbeats shook the soul. Cheng Yunpao was the first to sense something amiss. His blood surged as he turned sharply. "This—this is sonic slaughter!"
The sonic slaughter of the great drum far surpassed the seductive melodies of ordinary music. Amid the unified chants of thousands, the members of the Central Plains Sword Society found their inner energy in disarray, forced to retreat step by step. Though Chai Xijin's sonic slaughter was far less refined than Tang Lizhen's, each strike made their hearts lurch as if their very breath and pulse were under his control.
A cry of agony rang out—the second disciple of Dongfang Jian was struck down from his horse by a cavalryman. Despite his martial prowess, under the sonic slaughter, he couldn't withstand the charge of the warhorse. Enraged, Dongfang Jian drew his sword and pursued the cavalryman, only to see the rider sink his teeth into his disciple's neck, drinking blood in great gulps. Dongfang Jian swung his blade, and the blood-drinking cavalryman toppled over, still gripping his victim. Both fell beneath the hooves of the surrounding horses, trampled into a bloody pulp in moments.
The horrific sight incited the soldiers afflicted with "Queen Bee Congealed Frost." Soon, the two sides clashed in close combat, and the Central Plains Sword Society suffered heavy casualties. Many were dragged alive into the woods, torn apart by the drugged men, their agonized screams unceasing. Dongfang Jian, torn between shock and fury, leaped among the cavalry. From afar, a volley of arrows rained down, one piercing his back. He let out a howl of pain. Cheng Yunpao raised his sword to rescue him, but Chai Xijin struck the drum again, freezing him mid-motion. Dongfang Jian fell beneath the stampede of hooves—after a few passes, he was gone without a trace. A sect leader of his stature had met such a silent end.
Cheng Yunpao, inherently weak against sonic slaughter, staggered back repeatedly. Gu Xitan charged forward, stabbing a pursuing cavalryman. But a shadow flickered in the woods—Gui Mudan struck with a palm, his fingers sinking deep into Gu Xitan's right shoulder. Cheng Yunpao, horrified, thrust his sword in a move called "White Fox Faces the Moon," but Chai Xijin's drumbeat made his heart skip, and the strike lost its force.
Gui Mudan seized Gu Xitan, and by then, many others had fallen into his grasp as well. Furious, Cheng Yunpao looked back—amid the chaos, Meng Qinglei shielded Abbess Wenxiu as they broke eastward, while Dong Hubi led Liu Hongfei and his disciples westward. Both were highly skilled and soon tore open gaps in the enemy lines. Yet as one group went east and the other west, the breaches behind them allowed Chai Xijin to maneuver his puppets to encircle them. Meng Qinglei and Dong Hubi soon found themselves locked in desperate battles.Under their hands, the Xiang Army cavalry was no match at all, but these men were originally innocent and fearless to the point of death, making them unpredictable by normal logic. In no time, Meng Qinglei and Dong Hubi were both bloodied.
Abbess Wenxiu held her longsword but could never bring herself to strike these Xiang soldiers who had lost themselves and become puppets. Seeing Meng Qinglei getting more and more wounded in his efforts to protect her, she finally sighed helplessly and chanted a Buddhist invocation. She stepped back, "Amitabha, Benefactor Meng. As things stand, this humble nun shall take my leave first. Thank you for risking your life to protect me all this way."
Meng Qinglei turned back in shock, "Abbess!"
Abbess Wenxiu, gripping her sword, leaped up onto the head of a nearby Xiang soldier's horse and charged toward Chai Xijin. She was still over thirty meters away from the main war chariot—there was no way she could reach it in this assault. Yet, as a monastic, she could not bring herself to harm the innocent and could only offer her life in sacrifice.
Her leap was seen by all on the battlefield, and immediately arrows and crossbow bolts rained from all directions, their whistling filling the air. Abbess Wenxiu showed no fear. Using the horse's head as a stepping stone, she darted toward Chai Xijin like lightning. Most of the arrows could not keep up with her qinggong footwork, missing their mark entirely. Though horrified, Meng Qinglei couldn't help but inwardly praise the Emei footwork as truly peerless in grace and agility.
Under the setting sun, Abbess Wenxiu's leap shone like flowing gold, radiant and dazzling.
Her sword executed the move "Emei's Half-Moon in Autumn," aiming straight for Chai Xijin's neck.
Seeing this leap, Chai Xijin sighed.
Abbess Wenxiu's sword was still too far to harm even a hair on his head, yet she still struck.
The sword's momentum was like a rainbow, like something that had left and could never be retrieved.
Chai Xijin took a longbow from the red-clad woman beside him. Bathed in the sunset's glow, the bow gleamed brilliantly. A twang of the string, and the arrow shot through the air.
The red-clad woman gazed at Abbess Wenxiu mid-leap. Even as she swung her sword, several arrows had already struck her body. She said softly, "She is doomed. Why trouble yourself with this?"
Chai Xijin's arrow pierced Abbess Wenxiu's chest at that moment. She fell backward, blood spraying across the sky. From afar, cries of grief and fury rose incessantly—the Central Plains Sword Assembly was clearly heartbroken and enraged.
Then came Chai Xijin's voice: "A martyr seeks benevolence and attains it."
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